The Blinking Eye

I'll share my three photos that sell repeatedly. They have sold for wildly different amounts, but each of them have sold for over $100 as well. Only one (and a variation of that) is a protest photo per se. The others are protest murals. The first photo I ever leased on Alamy, and it continues to sell. There are not that many photos on Alamy about indigenous women so it fills a gap. Sold many times over. My single biggest sale for $149 to German television for use within a show. The algorithm must help this one and it must help that his name is spelled out and it's not just a picture of his face. I did know what I was doing with this one and waited for a white man to pass by. It capitalizes on someone else's artwork, but frames it with ironic commentary.

Starvation and disease hasn't set in, and we are still in the "fog of war". As a commenter on my social media feeds said recently, "Imagine thinking that the lesson of the holocaust was to relativize other genocides." But I doubt this is the appropriate place to discuss what qualifies as "genocide", a purposefully loaded term. Masha Gessen said it best, and I paraphrase, "Whether this can be called a genocide or not, we have, right now, the power to stop one from happening."

I actually left my laptop on an airplane last year 🙄. The Find My Device worked only to tell me no one had yet turned on my laptop. It doesn't do much if the laptop is off. I purchased apple air tags after that, as another way to locating lost items, and they seem to work. Also, my BackBlaze account saved me. All my files were accessible online even with a missing laptop. 🙏 Delta eventually found it and mail it to me after a couple weeks.

YES, I was thinking no way would I bring my current laptop but a secondhand one might be possible. Thanks!

Good idea.

This is excellent feedback about the placard and the upside down letters. I come from an art background, so I'm used to suggestion and letting the audience fill in the blanks to a high degree. So this is a line I'm not used to drawing, requiring more spoonfeeding and direct communication. I want to improve this and waste less energy uploading things that won't work. Great feedback!!! Do you pull out a laptop on the street to do the upload? While at the Google protest, I did a quick search and was amazed that the SF Chronicle published a story and article about it while I was still standing there taking photos. The photographer must have dived in, taken photos the moment it began, and sent them to the paper moments later. That was eye opening for me. No need to bother sticking around for more than a few minutes.

I see I can edit the caption, thanks. I notice I can do that and add keywords in the usual way. Do you usually add keywords to Live News photos after they appear in the feed?* Interesting about local angles! I'll have to put that into practice when I move back to Minneapolis (much quieter news-wise than San Francisco). I noticed one of the crowd control volunteers was smiling and interested in what I was doing last night. It didn't occur to me to introduce myself! But he may have helped clear space for me or knew what was going to happen next or details about the speakers, etc. Thanks for your comments! *Actually, it looks like I can get into the edit window but can't save the edit, until maybe it moves to stock. Lesson learned about the caption!

Thanks for bringing that up. Most people I know would say the opposite. I hear the word genocide so frequently on a daily/hourly basis that I thought it would be a searchable keyword.

The ones I took tonight at the lake? Good to hear! The lack of light eliminated almost all options. So much of the scene was invisible. However, it felt good to accept the narrow focus, and end up with only seven keepers. Getting higher than the crowd made a huge difference!

I'm mulling over the thought of introducing myself to people who I'm shooting. What a stance! I guess it's time to shake off the imposter syndrome.

Really great additions, thank you. The writing the IPTC beforehand is a GREAT tip. Having submitted to Live Feed only twice so far, that feels like a big slow down. Also, tonight, my camera gave all my photos the wrong date so I had to adjust each one. Need to fix the date on my camera!

Thank you!

Super professional. This gives me a really good idea of how you work! I like the notion of standing in the middle of the protest and shooting upward at protesters. The two cameras has come up before. I only have a humble Sony a6000 and I switch lenses a couple of times. I feel vulnerable shooting in Oakland and in San Francisco, so I keep it pretty basic. Lots of crime. I don't want to carry my laptop and risk losing it. Tonight I uploaded to Live News when I got home. It took two hours to get them into the feed.

Okay, pals, I did another shoot tonight trying to work in your advice. I was able to get higher than the crowd by standing on cement benches in the back of the outdoor amphitheater which sloped downward toward the lake. It was extremely challenging as there was almost no light. Also, it was more of a spiritual ceremony. I was more conspicuous than at a loud, chaotic protest. I didn't want to disturb the somber mood so that limited my movement. It was very difficult to get anything in focus. Let me know what you think. https://www.alamy.com/news/#BHM=foo%3Dbar%26qt%3D%26pn%3D1%26ps%3D120%26aoa%3D%26news%3D1%26sports%3D%26entmt%3D%26Videos%3D%26bb%3D1%26md%3DOL24301587%26dt%3D%26gid%3D{60493829-879F-4DE7-BC8F-2156D11364FD}%26destxml%3D%26imglst%3D%26orderby%3DDT%26newsseq%3D%26userid%3D{8C460FB4-8E58-4C1A-9E28-91A6ACBE9190}%26rand%3D1703303838421

Thanks for clarifying! When you talk about getting names of people, what were you referring to? Like a news story where they feature a photo or interview of an individual?